Category: Daily updates

Dr. Hurrell had good things to say about my decolonization paper, and has stressed that there is no urgency for completing my final paper of the year. Even better, he says that he will have at least six hours a week of research work for me, from July to September. Half of it will be formatting a bibliography for a book he is writing; the other half, identifying sources about Brazilian and Indian climate change policy. That and a few other bits of work should leave me with enough to pay rent and food, while also giving me a good amount of time to devote to thesis research.

After the seminar tonight, I met for a while with Bilyana and Kelly, before making dinner for the latter and capitalizing on Kai’s excellent stock of Simpsons DVDs. Tomorrow, I need to pick up my tuned-up bike, start the research for Dr. Hurrell, and pick up the faux Oxford business cards I am having printed on Holywell Street using a modified version of the far more expensive official template that Claire sent me. All told, a good series of new developments.

I finally feel as though I am getting a bit of traction on various projects. I’ve finished one of the three papers that have been hanging over me. By the time I meet Andrew Hurrell on Monday afternoon, I am resolved to have the paper on the Arab-Israeli conflict done, also. Thankfully, it is fairly similar to a paper I wrote in Michaelmas term about the interwar period in the Middle East and the causes of subsequent instability. In addition to academic work, I have printed some resumes and begun dropping them off at another batch of places. While I rather like the idea of a book shop, the tempting agencies that have been suggested to me by many people are becoming a possibility that I am distinctly considering. That, plus a few smatterings of academic work, might be able to constitute a reasonable employment path for the summer.

With regard to the planned European trips, it seems increasingly clear that finding other people who want to come along and are free to do so will be very hard. This I find particularly regrettable, as living in this empty house is providing a constant reminder of how much better I generally operate and enjoy myself when surrounded by friends. Regardless of that, I should probably go ahead and book at least one trip while the ticket prices are not as high as they will surely become. I need to find out whether my cousin Jiri in Prague is going to be around there this summer. If I can stay for free with him, I could fairly easily justify spending a couple of weeks there. While it wouldn’t be somewhere new to me – like Dublin or Istanbul would be – it would nonetheless be somewhere that I know to be interesting and enjoyable.

My parents are keen on me visiting Vancouver at some point towards the end of the summer. Naturally, I would be very keen to do so; spending two entire years without seeing my brothers or my friends in Vancouver is not something that I ever wanted to do. At the same time, I am anxious about spending so much on airfare prior to a year for which I have managed to secure no funding. The weight of all those failed scholarship applications is something I feel quite acutely at the moment.

PS. Does anybody know about interesting groups in Oxford that meet regularly over the weekend? With classes over, roommates gone, and friends departing, I am feeling a lack of scheduled activities where it is possible to meet people. Book clubs, photographic societies, walking or hiking clubs, and the like are all appealing possibilities.

General developments

After having breakfast with Roz this morning and walking to Marston with her – through the University Parks – she gave me the copy of Simon Singh’s Fermat’s Last Theorem, which is to be my next piece of discretionary reading. Naturally, having the chance to spend some time with Roz prior to her departure was excellent.

I suspect the Singh book will prove more in keeping with essay writing than de Botton’s novel did. The complete absence of any pressure from Dr. Hurrell to get the things finished has provided excessive opportunity to focus on other things – from the departure of friends to the kinds of sorting and cataloguing that sometimes threaten to consume all my waking hours. I’ve also been trying to coordinate as extensive a campaign as possible to increase the chances of Mica winning the grand final of the Google Idol video contest.

Job search

An exciting job possibility has arisen, but it’s far too uncertain to discuss right now. That said, I expect to have a firm answer about it within ten days or so. While it does sound like something I could do (two friends specifically indicated that they have such faith) the absurdly high rate of pay being offered makes me certain that I cannot possibly be qualified to the level they expect. That said, they are canvassing for applicants only a few weeks before the job is to be taking place. If there are lots of more qualified people floating around with no plans, I would be somewhat surprised.

Upcoming solitude

By Wednesday, I will be the sole resident of the 2 Church Walk basement flat. Both Kai and Alex are heading off in the next two days, with Kai heading back to Germany for the bulk of the summer. On the first of July, Eriko, the young woman who will be subletting his room, is to move in. I’ve met her very briefly. Apparently, she is an Oxford Analytica employee who will be spending her weekends in London and only weeknights in Oxford. That same evening, I will be having a Canada Day party here – possibly co-sponsored by Emily.

The idea of spending more than a week as the only inhabitant of a place like this is an odd one. I’ve never been singularly entrusted with such a large amount of space at once. Past instances of time spent alone in dorms – such as over the Christmas break here – have generally involved a kind of odd retreat from all the world on my part. As such, I hope that the many, many people to whom I’ve extended invitations to come have tea here will take me up on the offer during that period. A few solid kicks of a sort calculated to encourage essay writing would also not go amiss.

PS. (CR: Somno) Continue reading “Nought but narrative”

With so many friends on the cusp of zipping off in all directions, I’ve been doing my best to spend time with people this week. Thus far, it is going even better than might have been anticipated – despite limited academic progress. There will be plenty of time for papers after the exodus, after all.

For a few hours this morning, I was giving a tour of Oxford to Diarmuid Torney: a young man who will be part of next year’s M.Phil in IR class. It was especially gratifying to have the chance to impart a few useful bits of information in a way I wish had been done for me. Essential sandwich shops, pubs, libraries, and individuals were pointed out.

Tonight, there is an end-of-year party for the M.Phil group, followed by the annual lecture for the Global Economic Governance Program. Tomorrow evening, there is a garden party in Wadham. I wish my bike was operable for transport between them, but the seat remains resolutely stolen.

I really need to find people who want to accompany me on my putative European trips; ticket prices are rising quickly.

[Update] Lest I contribute to any confusion, my belief that the IR party was tonight was the product of a bad piece of intel. Sorry. There are also no WMD in the Manor Road Building.

(CR: Somno) Continue reading “Socially dedicated days”

For what I think was the first time in my life, I watched a portion of a televised soccer (football) match tonight: Poland versus Germany, as seen in the Saint Antony’s Bar. As a North American, I associate soccer with dreary mornings where children from ages of about ten to maybe seventeen or eighteen play while parents look on. My own soccer experiences were absolutely miserable – even worse than baseball, which I really despised. My experiences with coaches were all mutually hostile, while the ones with fellow players ranged from hostile to genuinely abusive. Soccer was as bad as the Cub Scouts. This has contributed to my general underlying conviction that team athletes are goons. It’s a conviction well reinforced by my spate of unfortunate incidents involving hockey playing roommates.

My natural response to being an obvious outsider in the team sports environment was to defy the lot of them, rather than try to conform. Of course, that is exactly the strategy that will maximize mutual hatred and cement a lifetime of resentment and barely suppressed anger about the whole experience. While I am absolutely certain most people playing team sports are decent people, I have the same kind of fear of them as I have of dogs, after being bitten several times as a paperboy.

Watching the match was interesting far more on sociological than athletic grounds. There was a small but noisome cadre of Poland fans, surrounded by many more people cheering (very softly) for Germany. By the time of the German victory at the end, they had become overt enough to make me pretty nervous. Since I find the whole concept of sport to be vaguely distasteful and unsettling, I suppose that’s not surprising. Even so, I suspect I will see bits of at least a few more matches before the World Cup has ended. I did manage to learn to enjoy Olympic hockey – at least when Canada was playing – so perhaps I am not entirely hopeless.

PS. With two days left in the semi-final of the video contest, please keep voting for Mica. Of course, once he gets to the final, I will be kicking up the publicity a bit.

Tonight’s supervision went really well. Dr. Hurrell seemed unusually positive about my essay, and the conversation was engaging and useful. Afterwards, I spent a few hours with a group of Wadham students. At first, we were in Wadham’s Ho Chi Hinh Quad, before moving to the King’s Arms. There, some disagreement seemed to nearly lead to a brawl, so I cycled home. With a seminar at 11:00am tomorrow, it seemed wise.

I still owe Dr. Hurrell three papers, but I can console myself with the knowledge of seeing Antonia at OUSSG tomorrow, then having dinner with Claire on Wednesday, meeting lunch with Bilyana on Thursday, and possibly meeting Roz on Thursday night. It’s great to be seeing so many friends before they leave for the summer: Claire to New York, Roz to Rome, etc. The Wadham Library also got a book that is fairly essential to my thesis today; it is already secured in my backpack.